Related Tags:

BEACH HAVEN, NJ (CBS) — It’s said that in tough times, you find out who your friends are, and the owner of a restaurant and B&B down the shore apparently has a lot of them—far more than she thought.

When an Easter Sunday fire scorched much of the Gables, a Victorian-style inn in Beach Haven, owner Sondra Beninati was devastated. The 120-year-old structure was in need of a lot of work, and she had weddings and catered events scheduled. That’s when the offers of help started coming in.

The Gables B&B in Beach Haven before the Easter blaze. (Credit: David Madden, KYW Newsradio)

“People who were friends, people who were quote-unquote competitors, people who were strangers to us…people who were even clients that would come to the restaurant. I couldn’t believe it,” Beninati says.

Those events went on as scheduled, and Beninati figures she’ll have the Gables up and running again by Memorial Day weekend.